Dave~What's the plan for FIFI?

[B29B24crewchief]

The Saturday after Christmas, I had a nice group come out and play at the hangar with me. Chris, his Dad Greg, Mark, Neal and Shawn.

This is Shawn, my newest favorite volunteer!! Sorry guys? He came out with his Dad and said he wanted to help with "FIFI"! I gave him something that was just his size and he loved it. He cleaned up all the tires and didn't miss a spot.







Chris and Mark were finishing up the flap lube.



Greg was working on cleaning up a spot on the #2 engine aft mount structure. After that was done, he cleaned up the hopper for #1's oil tank.



Neal was found really getting into his job. I had him removing the old engine mount bolts from the nacelle attach points. There are 6 of them, two are easy four are not!!







A few days later, I had my daughter here from Ohio. She came out to the hangar with me and got right in there. First I had her cleaning up the engine mount points on #2, where those bolts had been removed.


Then she worked on the #4 cowling, cleaning the cowl flap bushings.


Then the day after Derek got the #1 nacelle cleaned up, she started the taping.


Finally, back in Oct. after AirSho, I went back to Pennsylvania to move my Dad here to Midland so I could have him closer to me. We brought him out to the Hangar and my daughter and I gave him the grand tour. he really enjoyed it.



Hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!

Dave

[b29flteng]

I'm glad to see your Dad with you now in MAF. I hope he enjoys the better weather (no joke intended).

[B29B24crewchief]

I just got the "IN MEMORY OF GARY AUSTIN" stickers that Simon Diver made for us. They are available for sale thru me at this point, for $5.00 each or 3 for $10.00. Procedes will go toward the purchase of an aircraft sponsorship in Gary's name for the B-24 and the B-29. They measure 3" X4" and are darker green than the picture I took shows. Mail check or money order to;
Dave Miller
CAFHQ
B-29/B-24 Squadron
PO Box 62000
Midland, Tx. 79711

[Randy Wilson]

Here is a low-res scan with a little better idea of the colors.



Randy

[B29B24crewchief]

I don't remember if I showed this before but if I did, my bad.
One of the things about this project or any for that matter, are the little things that need attention, that many times get over looked or there's just not enough time to get them done. As Gary showed many times, there are several steps to a process of completing a repair. In this series of pictures, I'll show you what a single cowl flap needed to complete a repair. There's 12 of them on each cowling. We removed them all so they could be cleaned, inspected, repaired and repainted. This ones from the #4 cowling.

This first picture shows what it looked like before I started. At the bottom of the flap, you'll notice the rub strip is partcially broken and missing in some areas. The top one is completely gone, meaning the rivets that held it on are rubbing directly on the cowl flap next to it, causing more damage.





The first step is to drill out all the rivets that hold the strips on.



Next step is to fabricate a new set of rub strips. These strips are made of a product called phenolic. It's a material that has been used in aviation for years and really does hold up to alot of abuse. This application calls for 1/16" sheet and can be cut very easily on the metal shear. Rough cut two pieces and hold them in place with cleco clamps.



Next, you flip it over and drill thru the exsisting holes and thru the phenolic. add clecos.



Mark the strips, trim to fit and countersink the holes for flush rivets. This tool on the end of my drill is a countersink that can be set for a specific depth, so all you have to do is drill too it's stop depth and go to the next hole. Makes life alot easier and all the holes are uniform.




Now before you go and cleco that back on and rivet the new strip on, you want to prep the surface where you removed the old one. Take some ScotchBrite and clean the old paint and grime off. If you're down to bare aluminium, you'll alodine, then prime with a good zinc chromate primer.



Now you can go ahead and cleco it back on and get ready to rivet.



This tool is called a rivet squeezer. Real handy when it's just you in the shop.



Just load a rivet and put the squeezer in place and pull the trigger. It too does a real nice job and all your rivets come out looking great.



Last thing to do is prime, number and paint the flap.






Next I'll show what Mark and I are doing on the interior of the cowl to close up the holes.

Dave

[Django]

Interesting. What gave you the idea to use the Phenolic?

[b29flteng]

Phenolic is original.

[texasraiders]

will she make it to Airventure 2010?

C.

[Glen]

Is there a chance that she might be at T.O.M 2010 ?

[B29B24crewchief]

All I can tell you now is that is being worked on. It is my hope that we could do both but I'm just the crew chief! Those decisions are made a few heads higher on the totem pole than where I am.

Dave

[the330thbg]

Somwhere I have a HUGE PDF scan of some Boeing docs during the end of 1945 that shows various modifications performed on the cowl flaps to increase the cooling on the engine.., if I find it., would you like it?

[b29flteng]

Somwhere I have a HUGE PDF scan of some Boeing docs during the end of 1945 that shows various modifications performed on the cowl flaps to increase the cooling on the engine.., if I find it., would you like it?

The cowl flaps were shortened by about two inches to improve cooling and lessen the drag.

[flyingsailor]

Dave is taking a quick vacation to visit family, and asked me to post this report.

Last week, Anderson Aeromotive ran our new #2 engine for between four and five hours and were please with the results.

The engine is currently being put in the can, and is expected at Midland for Dave's return next week. Below are a few pictures







Another step closer to putting John S. back to work in the engineer's seat

Enjoy!

[steve dickey]

MAN, Anderson sure makes some pretty engines!!

[flyingsailor]

Steve
Have you done any of the work on our projects there, or have you been busy with one of the other aircraft in the hangar in B-ridge...